School Testing Out Of Control, Says Lawmaker

Legislation Would Prohibit States From Using Tests As Sole Criterion For Graduation

May 28, 2000|By DAVID LERMAN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — Virginia's public school students spent much of this month cramming for standardized tests in English, mathematics, science and social studies.

For many, the test scores could be critical. Today's eighth-graders will not be awarded high school diplomas, officials warn, unless they pass most of the state-developed exams.

To supporters, the so-called Standards of Learning promise to inject a new accountability into an education system long accustomed to "social promotion."

But on Capitol Hill, a few lonely voices - including a Newport News congressman - are sending a message that is viewed in many quarters as political heresy:

The testing craze is out of control.

"Too many children do not have equal access to a good education," said Rep. Robert C. Scott, D- Newport News, who sits on the House Education Committee. "The use of high-stakes testing exacerbates the problem by punishing the victims."

Scott is sponsoring a bill that would prohibit Virginia and other states from using standardized tests as the sole criterion for graduation or retention. Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., introduced a similar bill in the Senate.

Neither measure is likely to pass in a Republican Congress fond of higher standards and fewer federal mandates on local schools. Even many Democrats remain opposed.

Since introducing his bill several weeks ago, Scott still has no co-sponsors in the 435-member House. Wellstone, acknowledging the long odds, said he may settle for a study of the issue.

But both men are hoping to jump-start a national debate on a question they say gets too little serious scrutiny:

Will "high-stakes" testing improve education or hurt the very students it was designed to help?

"Somebody needs to challenge this fast-moving train," Wellstone advised a group of educators at a recent forum. "Otherwise, the results will be very brutal to many children in America."

Virginia is hardly alone in its push to toughen standards and make schools and students more accountable for their performance.

About half the states now rate schools based on test scores and most are moving toward denying diplomas to students who fail the exams.

In some cases, resistance has been fierce.

In Colorado, hundreds of teachers and students held a rally at the statehouse to protest the use of test scores for determining whether schools should be taken over by the state.

In Louisiana, parents in New Orleans filed suit to block a test that determines grade promotions.

And in Massachusetts last month, hundreds of students boycotted a state exam that will become a requirement for graduation in 2003.

"One standardized test cannot assess many of the important aspects of school," high school sophomore Will Greene told the Boston Globe. "I think it's wrong."

But elsewhere, high-stakes testing programs have been deemed a success, perhaps nowhere more so than Texas, where rising test scores are a central theme in Republican Gov. George W. Bush's presidential campaign.

Test scores in fact have risen dramatically during Bush's tenure, most notably for minority students. Critics say the tests are too easy, that aggressive drilling inflates scores, and that the number of school dropouts is increasing faster than officials acknowledge.

But those complaints haven't hurt Bush, whose effort to highlight the so-called "Texas miracle" in campaign ads has won him political support from moderates and women in recent national polls.

Virginia's latest push for school accountability began in the mid-1990s under former Republican Gov. George F. Allen, who is now a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat.

Backed by conservatives hungry for reform, Allen spearheaded a back-to-basics movement that pushed through tough new academic standards.

Beginning with this year's eighth-graders, students will have to pass at least six of the 11 high-school-level tests to graduate.

By 2007, schools in most cases will have to achieve a 70 percent student pass rate on the tests or face losing their state accreditation - a largely symbolic penalty that amounts to losing a "good housekeeping" seal of approval. No money would be withheld and no state takeover would be triggered.

"Social promotion is no longer acceptable," said Allen, who is sure to use the issue in his Senate campaign against Democratic incumbent Charles S. Robb. "With the solid academic preparation that we are requiring in Virginia, schools are being held accountable."

Robb likewise has joined the accountability bandwagon. He and other moderate Democrats are pushing a plan this year that would target more federal aid - $35 billion over five years - to states and localities that adopt high standards of accountability.

The plan, Robb told Virginia teachers last month, "shifts the federal focus in education from process to performance, from compliance with a vast and growing array of rules and regulations to what really counts: boosting student academic achievement."